Our New Apartment
We have FINALLY moved into our permanenet apartment late Wednesday and it feels wonderful. The Bed & Bunnies was fine for a couple of weeks, but it was definitely time for some more space. The bedrooms were tiny, Isabelle was sleeping in the corner of the dining room and the second bathroom was over in the public part of the B&B. This was just fine for the first 5 weeks and the artwork and pottery was fantastic. However, that 6th week coupled with the late August doldrums that all grade schoolers get was, what's the word - @#%*!^&!
The apartment is beautiful, the garden (yard) is huge, we have a couple of 95 year old turtles living in the backyard (and more bunnies of course), the kitchen has a stove that Bill & I both want to get for our house in the States, and Isabelle is thrilled because she gets to share a room with the boys after years of complaining that she is the only one in our family who has to have her own room. "Why can't I sleep with someone like a REAL person?"
We have a perfect view of the famous, historic Prato della Valle, an enormous pubic square (oval actually) in Padova. Anytime there is a large public event here, it is held in the Prato. Right now barriers have been erected so that the Prato is a large (about half mile) in-line skating track, and there are races going on involving skaters from Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and a country or two whose flags we can't identify. There is also a roller skating arena set up for exhibitions of figure (roller) skating and other performances. Last night we got to see some guys perform a juggling/dance routine with flags about 9 square feet in size that involved juggling with their arms and legs. Also, who doesn't like to see 20-something Italian guys wearing sequins and lace? We thought that there was going to be racing during the day and figure skating at night, but after the figure skating last night, they started racing again at 10 PM and went until after midnight and we are close enough to hear everything!
The couple whose apartment we are renting are Carlo & Silvia, two of the most charming people we have ever met. The B&B is owned by Silvia's mother who we got to live downstairs from for 6 weeks and now we will be living downstairs from Carlo's mother for the next 11 months. Nick said wryly, "You really can't ever get away from your mother, can you?" Poor child, he has already come to one of the core adult truths at the tender age of 8. Also, Carlo's mother is a psychologist and apparently sees people during the day upstairs so maybe if I can figure out how to describe all my emotional hot buttons in Italian I can get some free therapy while we pass each other on the stairs. Unfortunately, my Italian is so bad it will probably come out something like "my hair is a little sad in the morning when the visiting aliens eat dirt for breakfast" which will then cause the psychologist to call the people with straightjackets versus telling me to just get over it and exercise more.
I still have to tell you all about our trip to the poor folks Italian Riviera and Cinque Terre, but alas some suitcases are calling my name to be unpacked.
The apartment is beautiful, the garden (yard) is huge, we have a couple of 95 year old turtles living in the backyard (and more bunnies of course), the kitchen has a stove that Bill & I both want to get for our house in the States, and Isabelle is thrilled because she gets to share a room with the boys after years of complaining that she is the only one in our family who has to have her own room. "Why can't I sleep with someone like a REAL person?"
We have a perfect view of the famous, historic Prato della Valle, an enormous pubic square (oval actually) in Padova. Anytime there is a large public event here, it is held in the Prato. Right now barriers have been erected so that the Prato is a large (about half mile) in-line skating track, and there are races going on involving skaters from Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and a country or two whose flags we can't identify. There is also a roller skating arena set up for exhibitions of figure (roller) skating and other performances. Last night we got to see some guys perform a juggling/dance routine with flags about 9 square feet in size that involved juggling with their arms and legs. Also, who doesn't like to see 20-something Italian guys wearing sequins and lace? We thought that there was going to be racing during the day and figure skating at night, but after the figure skating last night, they started racing again at 10 PM and went until after midnight and we are close enough to hear everything!
The couple whose apartment we are renting are Carlo & Silvia, two of the most charming people we have ever met. The B&B is owned by Silvia's mother who we got to live downstairs from for 6 weeks and now we will be living downstairs from Carlo's mother for the next 11 months. Nick said wryly, "You really can't ever get away from your mother, can you?" Poor child, he has already come to one of the core adult truths at the tender age of 8. Also, Carlo's mother is a psychologist and apparently sees people during the day upstairs so maybe if I can figure out how to describe all my emotional hot buttons in Italian I can get some free therapy while we pass each other on the stairs. Unfortunately, my Italian is so bad it will probably come out something like "my hair is a little sad in the morning when the visiting aliens eat dirt for breakfast" which will then cause the psychologist to call the people with straightjackets versus telling me to just get over it and exercise more.
I still have to tell you all about our trip to the poor folks Italian Riviera and Cinque Terre, but alas some suitcases are calling my name to be unpacked.
posted by Cindy | 2:06 AM
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